Currently buying/selling a house? How is it going? READ MOD NOTE POST #1

Littleredcar

I’m looking at houses 3 years now . I have a small acceptable area to live in north Dublin have lost sales as we are not sale agreed but if we were sold we’d be homeless which I don’t want
I have two teenagers in secondary so area is limited where I can go . Recently I started looking in an area outside my comfort zone but not too far from my ideal location. Castlemoyne big houses and in good condition . Developer was renting a number of them so a good supply , also there is the benefit of possible renting one of my own is sold in advance .
They have w show house on sale fully furnished but overpriced at 625 . Does anyone know if they ever reduce show houses as it is lovely SND would save us the stress of decorating and make for an easier move

brisan

Littleredcar wrote: »

I’m looking at houses 3 years now . I have a small acceptable area to live in north Dublin have lost sales as we are not sale agreed but if we were sold we’d be homeless which I don’t want
I have two teenagers in secondary so area is limited where I can go . Recently I started looking in an area outside my comfort zone but not too far from my ideal location. Castlemoyne big houses and in good condition . Developer was renting a number of them so a good supply , also there is the benefit of possible renting one of my own is sold in advance .
They have w show house on sale fully furnished but overpriced at 625 . Does anyone know if they ever reduce show houses as it is lovely SND would save us the stress of decorating and make for an easier move

Is that Castlemoyne in Balgriffin
If you have 2 teenagers are you sure that is the right area for them
There is SFA for teenagers in the area
Lovely big houses but way overpriced
One sold recently ( a 4 bed )for 310k
Much better options for 600k in D13

Littleredcar

It is in balgriffin artane is my ideal area but I was willing to go there as off malahide road . Can you suggest other estates
I thibk the 310 house was auction of repossessed house others fetching far more

Smiley11

Found out the other day that a house we looked at in Cork City went sale agreed 130k over the asking price. Holy sheetballs! I'm amending my description of the current market from feverish to rabid & am gladly taking a breather for a few months in the hope some semblance of sanity returns!

TheSheriff

Smiley11 wrote: »

Found out the other day that a house we looked at in Cork City went sale agreed 130k over the asking price. Holy sheetballs! I'm amending my description of the current market from feverish to rabid & am gladly taking a breather for a few months in the hope some semblance of sanity returns!

Wow.... What drove up the price ? Good location, spec etc?

lcarrol3

Littleredcar wrote: »

It is in balgriffin artane is my ideal area but I was willing to go there as off malahide road . Can you suggest other estates
I thibk the 310 house was auction of repossessed house others fetching far more

Yes I can confirm this house was for sale at auction as a repossession. I actually remember it later going to market again at over 400.

Ive lived in Donaghmede all my life and recently bought in Balgriffin myself. Brisan is right in that there isn't a huge amount around for teenagers and Castlemoyne is a little more isolated in terms of public transport. Then again, I was a teenager in the area and I think I turned out okay! Depends on schools I guess too.

Smiley11

TheSheriff wrote: »

Wow.... What drove up the price ? Good location, spec etc?

Great location, great west facing garden but a lot of work to do to the house. Went on at 390k & was always going to do a lot better than that but I couldn't personally go to that level for it. When the work is done, I'd imagine it will or will be close to breaking the ceiling price on the road for similar houses. This market is just nuts!

brisan

lcarrol3 wrote: »

Yes I can confirm this house was for sale at auction as a repossession. I actually remember it later going to market again at over 400.

Ive lived in Donaghmede all my life and recently bought in Balgriffin myself. Brisan is right in that there isn't a huge amount around for teenagers and Castlemoyne is a little more isolated in terms of public transport. Then again, I was a teenager in the area and I think I turned out okay! Depends on schools I guess too.

I lived in Donaghmede from 10-38 both single and married
There was a lot more around and public transport a lot more accessible then there is in Castlemoyne
I remember Castlemoyne being half built and then left sitting there for years
if you have a budget of 600k you will get smaller but a lot better located properties in Artane Killester

https://www.myhome.ie/residential/brochure/10-kilbride-road-killester-dublin-5-d05-n2v8/4467438

https://www.myhome.ie/residential/brochure/43a-abbeyfield-killester-dublin-5-d05-a3f4/4437085
https://www.myhome.ie/residential/results?localities=1248|1318&region=1445&types=97&maxprice=600000

Even the new 4 beds in Belcamp offer better value in my opinion

Vikings

Littleredcar wrote: »

I’m looking at houses 3 years now . I have a small acceptable area to live in north Dublin have lost sales as we are not sale agreed but if we were sold we’d be homeless which I don’t want
I have two teenagers in secondary so area is limited where I can go . Recently I started looking in an area outside my comfort zone but not too far from my ideal location. Castlemoyne big houses and in good condition . Developer was renting a number of them so a good supply , also there is the benefit of possible renting one of my own is sold in advance .
They have w show house on sale fully furnished but overpriced at 625 . Does anyone know if they ever reduce show houses as it is lovely SND would save us the stress of decorating and make for an easier move

Have you listed your home for sale at all?

I'm just coming to the end of this process closing sale of our house and moving in January - our process only began in July. I can't possibly fathom it taking 3 years!

You will not be treated as a serious buyer if you're home is not listed for sale. In the current market, you will likely not even be treated seriously unless you are sale agreed. We had an offer of 5k above a first time buyer refused because the vendors didn't want anything to delay their move - despite having already contracts signed for the sale of our home.

There is a lack of supply of good homes coming on for sale but if you really want to do it you can not wait for the home you want to hit the market and then start the process as you will be left behind.

antimatterx

TSB are a shower off bastards. My folks have been waiting 6 weeks for them to release documents to allow the sale to be completed.

Also our estate agent is a thick. How she is worth that 4K commission is beyond me. She put an add on Daft, found a seller after a week and all she does is call for updates. She even tried to convince my parents to let the buyers move in as "tenants" prior to closing. I had to tell to **** off.

whatever76

Smiley11 wrote: »

Great location, great west facing garden but a lot of work to do to the house. Went on at 390k & was always going to do a lot better than that but I couldn't personally go to that level for it. When the work is done, I'd imagine it will or will be close to breaking the ceiling price on the road for similar houses. This market is just nuts!

you mind me asking - Was this beaumount/blackrock area by chance as I have been looking recently and noticed this when I ring EA about them and current offers :eek: ?

Smiley11

whatever76 wrote: »

you mind me asking - Was this beaumount/blackrock area by chance as I have been looking recently and noticed this when I ring EA about them and current offers :eek: ?

Spot on...Beaumont Avenue. Looked at the recent listing across the road as well last week & its a lovely home but too many cons to pay that kind of money. 20k under asking with 2 bidders last I checked. 4 new builds overlooking the back garden too. Still much better value than the project but they're shocking prices for semis.

theboringfox

Smiley11 wrote: »

Spot on...Beaumont Avenue. Looked at the recent listing across the road as well last week & its a lovely home but too many cons to pay that kind of money. 20k under asking with 2 bidders last I checked. 4 new builds overlooking the back garden too. Still much better value than the project but they're shocking prices for semis.

People pay huge premium for that location. Not sure I see that changing. Most houses in the city that are semi Ds are overlooked though...would that be a big con? 20k under asking. Least it is under asking anyway

Smiley11

theboringfox wrote: »

People pay huge premium for that location. Not sure I see that changing. Most houses in the city that are semi Ds are overlooked though...would that be a big con? 20k under asking. Least it is under asking anyway

Absolutely but its just not in me to pay that much for so many of my own cons. Its a fantastic location & if it was on the other side of the road I'd definitely consider bidding...but seeing a house on the other side going 130k over asking means we couldn't compete in a market like that. 20k under asking with 2 bidders, 3 if my husband got his way! I'd imagine it will easily go over as its a lovely home.

theboringfox

Smiley11 wrote: »

Absolutely but its just not in me to pay that much for so many of my own cons. Its a fantastic location & if it was on the other side of the road I'd definitely consider bidding...but seeing a house on the other side going 130k over asking means we couldn't compete in a market like that. 20k under asking with 2 bidders, 3 if my husband got his way! I'd imagine it will easily go over as its a lovely home.

I agree with your sentiments here. Sometimes a house ticks lot of boxes and even though we recognise there's always compromises it can be a particular issue or two that means you just cannot progress to buying even though might like the home. Very tough.

Exclamation Marc

Thank you to everyone on this thread for their contributions. Though I'm quite active elsewhere on Boards, have been a silent observer on this thread but it has given me great insight and guidance as to what is common and uncommon which helped me at various points.

We went sale agreed on our new house in Cabinteely on October 5th and tomorrow on the 10th of December, we finally close.

Process was quite stressful at times as being a cancer survivor (at 35), some banks wouldn't touch me with a bargepole due to being unable to get life assurance (despite being fit, healthy and medically 'cured' at this point). Add to that the LTV exemptions dropping when Covid became an issue didn't help either as we're second time buyers (me being a STB, my partner being a FTB).

UB were working for us at the outset but then later changed their criteria as regards my current apartment which was being retained to rent out (with rent more than covering existing mortgage). They dropped the mortgage amount they would grant us after AIP and after going sale agreed.

Our broker was simply magnificent though and was able to have Finance Ireland agree to take us on and save the day (all before he advised us of the UB issue) and they were similarly great. Very smooth, uncomplicated and couldn't praise them enough.

Sellers were really great. The house is in fantastic condition and really hit all of our requirements and they very kindly invited us up to show us how the house works (switches, lights, alarms etc.) this week. We ended up 10% over asking price (at our absolute limit) in the end but its worth it given the condition and it hitting our requirements.

Finally, couldn't praise our solicitor enough. She was brilliant from start to finish and really drove the deal when she became involved. Quite a contrast to what I read on here with bad or slow solicitors; we were clearly lucky.

So it really was a slog of a process and tricky at times but we were blessed with our broker, lender and solicitor which offset a lot of the stress that the original lender and my health caused. And now we're in for Christmas!

Best of luck to everyone on this thread!

Littleredcar

Vikings wrote: »

Have you listed your home for sale at all?

I'm just coming to the end of this process closing sale of our house and moving in January - our process only began in July. I can't possibly fathom it taking 3 years!

You will not be treated as a serious buyer if you're home is not listed for sale. In the current market, you will likely not even be treated seriously unless you are sale agreed. We had an offer of 5k above a first time buyer refused because the vendors didn't want anything to delay their move - despite having already contracts signed for the sale of our home.

There is a lack of supply of good homes coming on for sale but if you really want to do it you can not wait for the home you want to hit the market and then start the process as you will be left behind.

We had a very specific requirement up to this year which meant we needed a downstairs bedroom for an elderly relative which unfortunately we no longer need so looking for 3 years also included dealing with a serious illness . Also we have upgraded our own home so much we really want to upgrade and not have a do-er upper . Lots of them in our catchment area

Cash_Q

Exclamation Marc wrote:

So it really was a slog of a process and tricky at times but we were blessed with our broker, lender and solicitor which offset a lot of the stress that the original lender and my health caused. And now we're in for Christmas!

Congratulations, its great when you've got helpful professionals on board!

BrosnanL27

Any advice would be appreciated please

Myself and my husband currently have a mortgage offer from PTSB that is due to expire in April. We expect to draw down in March.
I am going on maternity leave for 6 months from February 8th. My employer will pay 70% of my wages for the 6 months and then will pay me the remaining 30% on month 3 of my return to work.
Can PTSB recalculate what they can loan us based on my reduced salary for that 6 month period? My employer can provide a letter explaining their maternity policy, that I will resume the same role with the same salary and my return date.

We'd be offered a good 50k less than what we have been approved if PTSB go that route.

Cash_Q

BrosnanL27 wrote:

Myself and my husband currently have a mortgage offer from PTSB that is due to expire in April. We expect to draw down in March. I am going on maternity leave for 6 months from February 8th. My employer will pay 70% of my wages for the 6 months and then will pay me the remaining 30% on month 3 of my return to work. Can PTSB recalculate what they can loan us based on my reduced salary for that 6 month period? My employer can provide a letter explaining their maternity policy, that I will resume the same role with the same salary and my return date.

Not entirely sure I understand the 30% on your return to work bit..
Regardless, I'm currently on maternity leave, I'm getting standard maternity benefit of 245euro per week, which is deducted from my salary, but I'm essentially taking home the same amount of money each week as I did when not on maternity leave. We drew down our mortgage with KBC today and nothing was said about the maternity benefit, presumably because my take home pay hasnt changed, it's just coming from two sources temporarily. Will you get maternity benefit that might bring back up the 30% being deducted by your employer?

Smiley11

Exclamation Marc wrote: »

Thank you to everyone on this thread for their contributions. Though I'm quite active elsewhere on Boards, have been a silent observer on this thread but it has given me great insight and guidance as to what is common and uncommon which helped me at various points.

We went sale agreed on our new house in Cabinteely on October 5th and tomorrow on the 10th of December, we finally close.

Process was quite stressful at times as being a cancer survivor (at 35), some banks wouldn't touch me with a bargepole due to being unable to get life assurance (despite being fit, healthy and medically 'cured' at this point). Add to that the LTV exemptions dropping when Covid became an issue didn't help either as we're second time buyers (me being a STB, my partner being a FTB).

UB were working for us at the outset but then later changed their criteria as regards my current apartment which was being retained to rent out (with rent more than covering existing mortgage). They dropped the mortgage amount they would grant us after AIP and after going sale agreed.

Our broker was simply magnificent though and was able to have Finance Ireland agree to take us on and save the day (all before he advised us of the UB issue) and they were similarly great. Very smooth, uncomplicated and couldn't praise them enough.

Sellers were really great. The house is in fantastic condition and really hit all of our requirements and they very kindly invited us up to show us how the house works (switches, lights, alarms etc.) this week. We ended up 10% over asking price (at our absolute limit) in the end but its worth it given the condition and it hitting our requirements.

Finally, couldn't praise our solicitor enough. She was brilliant from start to finish and really drove the deal when she became involved. Quite a contrast to what I read on here with bad or slow solicitors; we were clearly lucky.

So it really was a slog of a process and tricky at times but we were blessed with our broker, lender and solicitor which offset a lot of the stress that the original lender and my health caused. And now we're in for Christmas!

Best of luck to everyone on this thread!

Huge congratulations to you both! Great to hear that it has all paid off for you. I really hope we'll be as happy this time next year but in the meantime, good health & good luck to you in your new home

BrosnanL27

Cash_Q wrote: »

Not entirely sure I understand the 30% on your return to work bit..
Regardless, I'm currently on maternity leave, I'm getting standard maternity benefit of 245euro per week, which is deducted from my salary, but I'm essentially taking home the same amount of money each week as I did when not on maternity leave. We drew down our mortgage with KBC today and nothing was said about the maternity benefit, presumably because my take home pay hasnt changed, it's just coming from two sources temporarily. Will you get maternity benefit that might bring back up the 30% being deducted by your employer?

The 30% is held back by my employer basically to encourage people to return to work it seems. So I will get the standard €245 mat benefit and my employer will top that up to make up 70% of my wage for the 26 weeks. Really worried now that ptsb will not entertain this.

Cash_Q

BrosnanL27 wrote:

The 30% is held back by my employer basically to encourage people to return to work it seems. So I will get the standard €245 mat benefit and my employer will top that up to make up 70% of my wage for the 26 weeks. Really worried now that ptsb will not entertain this.

BrosnanL27 wrote:

The 30% is held back by my employer basically to encourage people to return to work it seems. So I will get the standard €245 mat benefit and my employer will top that up to make up 70% of my wage for the 26 weeks. Really worried now that ptsb will not entertain this.

I understand what you mean now yes, it's hard to know without asking directly but I know you probably don't want to draw attention to it either. Maybe if you asked a broker they'd know if another bank might be more flexible about it; 6 months is such a short time in the term of the mortgage so it would be so unfair of them to adjust the amount but banks aren't known to be fair unfortunately! Just because you have a loan offer from them doesn't mean you can't shop around for another. It's awful stress to be going through when you're pregnant, I've just been through the selling and buying experience while pregnant/have a newborn so I do sympathise! If you're in or near Dublin I can recommend a great broker if you want to PM me.

dev_ire

Waiting on signed contracts back from solicitor is making me a nervous mess.

GrumPy

Exclamation Marc wrote: »

We went sale agreed on our new house in Cabinteely on October 5th and tomorrow on the 10th of December, we finally close.

This is great news, congrats! Also, contender for the fastest turn-around on this thread, ever? Early Oct - Mid Dec is unreal... I've been waiting since Aug 5th!
Best of luck in your new home.

Cash_Q

About to collect the keys for our house now after an absolute whirlwind 6 months. We bought our first home in 2018 and sadly had the neighbours from hell, three bad sets all in a row either side of us. I resisted selling for a long time, never thought we could get the 20% deposit as second time buyers, but when we got the house valued the agent said "It'll either work out or it wont, you've got nothing to lose by trying." And he was so right. We sold for 18k more than we paid and we had put very little money into it.

The same agent sold our house and the one we are buying which I think helped massively. We had first time buyers buying our place and the new house was vacant, awaiting grant of probate. No chain at either end really helped too, even though the probate issue was only revealed over a month after we went sale agreed. We spent over two months living with my parents, having moved in 2 weeks after having a C section to ensure we didnt lose our buyers.

Timeline as follows for anyone interested:

Sale:
25/6 House valued
2/7 House on the market
5/8 sale agreed 6k over asking
25/9 contracts signed
2/10 due to close, delayed by buyers finance
13/10 keys handed over, sale closed

Purchase:
10/7 House on the market
18/7 House viewed
30/7 Sale agreed 5k over asking
11/9 contracts received by solrs~issue with probate
25/9 contracts signed
25/11 probate granted
26/11 funds requested from KBC
9/12 funds issued
10/12 keys received, purchase closed

Best of luck to all still searching or waiting for sales to close, we are so thrilled to be spending Christmas in our new home with our 3 month old and 2 year old kids!

Gaeilgeoir_Dub

We are now on 7 weeks since the last update from vendors solicitor which at the time was "we believe probate will be issued in 4-5 weeks". The house we've bought needs work so we wouldn't be in properly for Christmas but I have a couple of weeks off work coming up that I'd love to use stripping wall paper and taking up old floors! I know probate takes time, but the vendor solicitor has gone completely silent, no response to a request for update from our solicitor in over two weeks. According to the EA, the vendor solicitor isn't responding to the vendor either. It's the lack of communication that kills me even more than not getting into the house this side of Christmas. Buying a house is really such a frustrating process!!!

Claw Hammer

Gaeilgeoir_Dub wrote: »

. Buying a house is really such a frustrating process!!!

No on forces anyone to smoke cigarettes or buy houses!

Gaeilgeoir_Dub

Claw Hammer wrote: »

No on forces anyone to smoke cigarettes or buy houses!

Strange comment on a thread about buying and selling houses :rolleyes:

Downloaded

We are FTB's and have signed contracts on a new build that is due to complete in Mar/Apr 2020. Yeah!

The new house will need new floor finishes and some minimum furniture to start, such as a bed and a sofa - My query is, given the long lead times quoted for both flooring and furniture at the moment, should we purchase these in advance of closing on the property and drawing down the mortgage, or wait until that process has concluded?

I'm worried how these 'big money' purchases would look to the bank, in the weeks and months leading up to drawn down, if we did the former...

How do most people approach this?

Any advice is appreciated!